Broomfield, Colorado — Since its inception in 2008, the Epic Pass has become the go-to pass product in North America’s ski industry thanks to its rapid growth of partners mountains. That growth has mellowed out in recent years, partially due to the rise of the Ikon and Indy Passes. However, the Epic Pass still offers access to a wide array of destinations across the globe. The Epic Pass is back for another season in 2025-26, with a minor change that will provide for more access to a popular European ski destination.
Yesterday, Vail Resorts announced the introductory price points for the next batch of Epic Passes. For the 2025-26 season, the chief product, the Epic Pass, will cost $1051 for adults. This is an increase of 7% compared to the introductory price ($982) of last season’s pass. According to the Summit Daily, this is still cheaper than the highest price point it sold at during the 2020-21 season. This is Vail’s most comprehensive pass product, with unrestricted access to all 42 Vail properties, along with access to mountains like Telluride, Resorts of the Canadian Rockies (places like Fernie and Kicking Horse), and the Hakuba Valley.
The Epic Local Pass includes unrestricted access to 29 destinations, plus acess to the major destinations in Vail’s portfolio (except for blackcout dates). This is priced at $783 for adults. The difference for this upcoming season is that the Epic Local Pass will now feature access to Verbier 4 Vallées. Other passes that now will have access to Verbier 4 Vallées include the Epic Australia Pass, Epic Adaptive Pass, and Epic Australia Adaptive Passes.
If you don’t ski that often, an Epic Day Pass is also worth looking at. This is an alternative to a standard lift ticket, as ordering this can save you hundreds of dollars. Prices for these day tickets currently range from as low as $47-$100.
One of the more interesting parts of Vail’s press release was them noting how lift lines are down over the past few years. This season, lift lines have only been above ten minutes less than 3% of the time. Overall, the amount of lift lines has been reduced year after year for the past three years.
Compared to other winters, the capital project plans are a bit underwhelming. Park City Mountain Resort is installing a new gondola this summer, which will replace the Sunrise chairlift. However, this project was previously announced by the Utah ski resort. Lift replacements are also planned at Andermatt-Sedrun and Perisher. There’s always next year, Mount Sunapee.
Ultimately, it will be interesting to see in the following months whether Vail Resorts will lose customers (i.e. Epic passholders) over the Park City ski patrol strike, among other issues this season.
Image Credits: Mount Snow, Vail Resorts
